Cleaning condensable fiber



Jan. 6, 1942.

e. CVMORGAN CLEANING CONDENSABLE FIBER s Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb, 16,1940 INVENTOR v esomas c. MORGAN WV Z ATTORzEl s Jan. 6, 1942. G. c.MORGAN I CLEANING CONDENSABLE FIBER s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 1940INVENTOR 6FOR6E c. MGR (an/v ATTORNEYS Jan. 6, 1942.

G; c. MCVJRGAN 2,269,085

CLEANING CONDENSABLE FIBER Filed Feb. 16, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 5()VVENTOR EORGE C. MORGAN W ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 6, 1942 UNITED STATGeorge 0. Morgan, Birmingham, Ala., assignor to Continental Gin Company,a corporation of Delaware Application February 16, 1940, Serial No.319,193

7 11 Claims. ((119-156) My invention relates to an improved manner ofcleaning and condensing fibrous material, such as cotton, by sodepositing the lint, which term I hereinafter use as comprehensive ofthe various fibrous materials to which my invention is applicable, alongwith the dirt and foreign matter therein, that the latter will tend tofree itself in an unusually eifective manner from the lint and pass offthrough the condenser screen while the cleaned lint is discharged in batform.

My object therefore is to obtain an improved grade of clean high gradelint without undue increase in the cost of producing it'.

It is generally to be contemplated that the lint will be delivered tothe condenser by an air-current which may be induced in the gin or linitpreparing machine but which may be created by suction.

In the case of such air borne lint it has heretofore been considerednecessary to deposit it gently of cleaning the lint, while in theprocess of being collected into bat form or otherwise; that I propose\to repeat the operation as many times as maybe needed by providing/oneor more means, each adapted to strip the deposited lint bat from thedrum and again'project it forcibly against the cleaned drum surface;until the cleaned product reaches the delivery rolls and passes off. Avariety of means will be used to strip and redeposin; the lint andas allre-treatments will loosen up and disintegrate the bat so as to separateit into loose lint particles and the reverse of such general practice inthat, as

one feature of my invention, I propose to so design the air duct,bearing the lint to the drum, that its cross sectional area decreasestowards the drum, thereby accelerating the air flow until on reachingthe drum the lint will be deposited at high velocity over a relativelynarrow transverse zone or arc of its moving screen surface. It followsthat the particles of dirt and foreign matter traveling with the lintand having less volume and more weight, will have greater inertia thanthe lint at the point of contact with the drum screen and will thereforetend tojforce v their way more readily through the screen and alsothrough the accumulating layer or bat of lint on the drum. Thus byinducing a high velocity impact of the lint and dirt against the screenI obtain a definite and important cleaning action which improves thegrade and1I do not find that this advantage is offset to any appreciableextent; byan increase in the per-. centage of lint in the waste.

I desire to cover this method of high velocity deposit of lint and dirton the drum, whether by control of air currents or by any other agency,and when I refer to a drum I mean to include any screen or foraminouselement having constant movement relative tothe lint delivery means.

-50 important do I consider-this novelmethod foreign matter before itsredeposit, it will be apparent that I will obtain a very efficientcleaning of the lint and a marked improvement in its a m l l v The "lintstripping and redepositing agencies are preferably associated with thesame collector drum upon which the lint is initially deposited, and dueto reduced area ofdeposit required by my method, the required number ofsuch retreating agencies can be assembled over no greater are of thedrum surface than has heretofore been devoted to the collection of thelint by lowvelocity deposit thereof. I

' My invention contemplates that these retreatment agencies'may bepurely mechanical or they may operate by means of air currents inducedpositively or by suction and if desired regulable with respect'to all oreach of such agencies, or I may employ both mechanicaland pneumaticagencies for the retreatment of the lint bat, but in all cases I preferto use means that will strip the bat cleanly from the moving-drum screenand forcibly propel the stripped lint back again on the cleanedscreen sothat the heavier foreign matter will have repeated opportunities whilesuspended with the segregated lint to make its escape from the lint andpass off with the waste. V U" 'My present invention is not particularlyconcemed with thetype of moving screen used for the collection of thelint, nor With the manner of producing relaltivernovement between suchscreen andthe lint delivery and re-treating agencies, my full objectbeing attained in its broader sense where the lint is deposited for c'ollection on a screen surface having movement relative to theline' ofapproach to the lint so as constantly to present afresh and clean screenquality of fiber or lint is produced; 1

may be carried on in respect of lint as produced in any individual ginfor cotton or other fibers; or it may be put into use in connection withwhat is termed a battery condenser into which the lint and foreignmatter from the several gins.

is delivered through a manifold system by any suitable means or medium.In the latter case it is preferable that a manifold suction collectionsystem is employed with a fan disposed in the suction line so that itfunctions in the manner well understood to break apart and open up thefiber. masses, as they reach it, so as to present the lint and itsaccompanying foreign matter in best condition for the cleaning andcondensing treatment contemplated in my present invention.

Without therefore limiting myself to the details of construction shown,my invention will be found typically embodied in the apparatus shown inthe accompanying drawings and described in the specification thatfollows, but its scope will be commensurate with the language of theclaims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates in plan view a portion of a battery of linter ginshaving a manifold lint collection system with a suction fan interposedto deliver the combined lint from the several linter gins of any type toa battery condenser from which, the cleaned lint passes in bath form toa tramper or like agency, while the foreign matter and such lint as mayescape with it from the condenser passes to and is separated in acentrifugal separator.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view taken on the lineII-II of Fig. 1 through the battery condenserwith mechanical agencies ,4

associated with the pneumatic means for strippingand redepositing thelint on the moving surface of the condenser drum.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view corresponding to, Fig. 2, in which themechanical agencies employed are rolls covered with card clothing andassociated with dofiing brushes which propel the doffed fibers. againand again upon a clean surface of the traveling condenserscreen.

Fig, 4 is a perspective view showing also in cross section, similar toFigs. 2 and 3, a combination of mechanical and pneumatic agencies fordofiing and depositing by regulated air currents the stripped lint tocarry out the cleaning operation contemplated in my present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view corresponding to Figs. 2 and 3 in whichpneumatic means are employed to strip and forcibly redeposit the lintbat initially collected on the drum screen to effect the l e-cleaningtreatments, the stripper jets being arranged within the partitionchambers in the drum.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the apparatus selected for a typical embodiment of my invention Ishow a battery of linter gins- 5 having individual condensers 6comprising rotary screen drums upon which the lint is deposited in batform l, the air and some entrained dirt and trash being carried off fromeach gin condenser by a lateral pipe 8 leading to a suction manifold 9containing a suction fan ID, by means of which the air and entrainedmatter is delivered through the duct II tangentially into thecentrifugal separator I2. The bat I is withdrawn from each drum screenby means of a suction pipe l3 entering a manifold suction line [4containing a blower fan I5, by means of which the lint, masses arebroken up and loosened so that the fiber and any entrained foreignmatter is delivered through duct I6 and nozzle I-l into my improved typeof battery condenser C.

The suction pipes l3 may remove the lint bat from the condensers in themanner described in apending application, Serial No. 239,182, filed inthe name of Algernon L. Smith, or it is within the contemplation of myinvention that the lint bat may be delivered by any suitable means fromthe gin condenser to the lint manifold pipe I4, or the individual gincondensers 6 may be entirely eliminated and the lint and accompanyingforeign matter delivered directly from the gin into the lint manifold Il. The lint and accompanying foreign matter passes through the pipe I6into the laterally widened and vertically contracted nozzle I! which isdesigned to accelerate the rate of air flow and to deposit the lintthrough narrow transverse inlet port i8 (Fig. 2) directly against theclean screen surface IQ of the battery condenser.

The screen surface l9 preferably forms the periphery of the condenserdrum which, in the manner well understood in this art, is provided withinternal tracks 20 which ride upon internal supporting rollers 2| andthe internal gears 22, which latter mesh in internal toothed rack 23mounted adjacent to each head 24 of they drum. The gears 22 are drivenby any suitable means (not shown) so as to produce a continuous motionof the screen [9 across the path of the airand lint entering through thenozzle I1 and inlet port l8. The drum as a whole is suitably supportedby a frame 25 and the drum heads are shaped, or designed to form endclosures for a dirt and air collecting chamber within the drum.

While this dirt and air collecting chamber may,

take many different forms, I show it as comprising a central spiralchamber 26 formed in part by a baffle wall 21 merging tangentially intoits under-surface and extending to the inner'surface drum where itcarries a sealing wiper strip 28 disposed substantially in line with thebottom edge of the port l8 and which prevents the leakage of air withinthe drum into the chamber 26. A baffle 29 from the top of the curvedwall 30 defining the chamber 26 carries a wiper strip 3| engagingtheinner surface of the drum screen opposite the bat roller 32 which hasits trunnions mounted for adjustment toward. and from the drum in thes10ts33-of the frame 24.

A housing 34 serves to enclose that are of the drum lying between thebottom of the port [8' and the left hand side of the bat roller 32, thishousing'having wipers or other means to seal the side joints and preventair leakage into oroutof the housing endwise of the drum.

As shown in Fig. 2, this housing is fluted so as to provide threesuccessive treatment chambers, each containing a spiked or slatteddoffer roll designated 35, 36 and 31 to distinguishthem. Both of theserolls and the screen drum turn clockwise, all being driven by anysuitable mechanism, which for the purpose of simplicity is eliminatedfrom the showing. The action of roll.35 is to, strip the lint that hasbeen deposited in bat form on the drum by the. action of the screen drumdepositing the lint thereon and nozzle H! which forces the lint bearingair current radially against the rising clean drum screen surface. Thisdoffed lint is carried up and over and, due to the shape of the adjacenthousing wall 38, it will be turned over, opened up and again forciblydeposited upon the surface of the drum screen that has been cleaned bythe action of the roll 35, and thus the bat is reformed again on thescreen drum and the same process is repeated by the rollers 36 and 31,thus causing the initial bat to be stripped, adjusted, agitated, openedup, inverted and forcibly impelled again against a clean screen surface.A wiper 39 seals the point between the casing and the bat roller 32, andthe bat after its final redeposit on the drum by the roll 31 iscompressed by the bat roller and discharged into the tramper or otherpoint of use. i

. It will be noted that the chamber 26 is provided with an axiallydisposed outlet port 40 which, in the contemplation of my invention,will customarily be connected to the suction line 4| leading alsotangentially into the centrifugal separator l2. Baflies are arrangedbetween the walls 21 and 29 so as to provide the desired control of thesuction action from chamber 26 upon the interior surface of the drum andto enable the air currents with entrained foreign matter, dirt and somelint that escapes through the screen to enter tangentially into thespiral chamber 26, wherein a vortex whirl is set up possessingsufiicient inertia to prevent the creation of eddy currents within thedrum and to prevent short circuiting of the air from the drum toward theend outlet 40. This feature is not specifically claimed in my presentapplication as it forms the subject matter of my companion application,Serial No. 239,182.

As shown, the initial baflie opposite the roll 35 has an under wall 42which converges toward the baflie 21 and at its inner end coincidentwith the peripheral plane of the chamber 26 it is joined to a divergentbafile 43 which is connected at its outer end to an arcuate wall 44which blanks off that segment of the drum lying between the lower levelof the chamber for roll 35 and a point just beyond said roll, and saidbaflles extend the full length of the drum. A curved baffle 45 has itsunder edge spaced from the bafiie 43 so as to leave an air inlet porthere, and at its upper end it joins a straight baflle wall 46 which istangent to and forms a peripheral section of the wall of chamber 26.This leaves an inlet port 41 just beyond the roll 35 and a deliverynozzle 48 which opens tangentially into the chamber 26. Opposite theroll 31 I provide a curved baflle wall 49 terminating at its left handend in a wall 50 leading inwardly and carrying a section of theperipheral wall of chamber 26. The walls 46 and 50 are spaced to providea passage having an inlet port-52 and a contracted tangential nozzle 53.At the right hand end of the baffle 49 I provide an inturned shortbaffle 54 spaced so as to leave the drum screen unblanked between therolls 3! and 32 and provides a relatively wide intake port 55 throughwhich air enters tangentially along the baflle wall 29 and through thenozzle 56.

The apparatus as thus far described will cause the lint bearing aircurrent to'impinge radially at high velocity against a contracted areaor segment of the drum lying immediately opposite the relatively narrowinlet port l8, and the air current will tend in part to pass through thecarrying with it a large percentage of the heavier more dense foreignmatter which will have attained a. much higher inertia than that of therelatively light lint. This inertia of the fast moving particles willtend to enable them to force their way through the thin bat as itinitially forms on the rising drum surface but of course as the batthickens it acts somewhat in the nature of a filter to catch some ofthis dirt and foreign matter on its outer surface. The air that will notfind its way freely through the screen drum into the chamber 26 willpass upwardly through the housing 34 and establish itself around there-treatment rolls 35, 36 and 31 and over the exposed surfaces of thedrum screen lying opposite the ports 41, 52 and 55. At the same time anegative pressure, due to the presence of suction in chamber 26, will beexerted through the tangential inlet passages 56, 46, and the main inletpassage lying between the walls 21 and 42. The first roller will stripthe drum clean, breaking up the bat and carrying it over through an arcin excess of 180 and causing the air and lint to be impelled againforcibly and radially against the cleaned drum overlying the port 41,where the suction and velocity ofmovement will again act to remove muchof the remaining heavier andhigh inertia foreign matter in the lint andthus further clean the hat. The same treatment occurs again by reason ofthe action of the roll 36 and of the roll 31 and all of the dirt and airand such portion of the lint that makes its escape through the unblankedsurfaces of the drum will all be caused to flow at increased velocityand tangentially into the repeatedly opened up and forcibly redepositedin the presence of suction on the same drum screen will have beenrepeatedly cleaned and will reach the bat roller as a greatly improvedhigh quality product.

In Fig. 3 I show the same general arrangement of parts with theexception that in place of the dofiing rolls 35, 36 and 31, I employrollers 51, 58 and 59 which are covered with card clothing 60 anddisposed and adapted to strip the lint bare from the drum and present itin position to be dofied by their respective dofiing rollers 6| whichare arranged opposite outwardly arcuate portions 62 of the housing 34awhich otherwise conforms tohousing 34 already described.

The action of the rollers 51, 58 and 59 and their respective doifingbrushes 6| is substantially that as already described, except that herethe bat is more completely broken up and opened out and the force of itsimpact. against the screen drum is determined by the peripheral speed ofthe dofiing brushes and the positive and negative air pressure onopposite sides of the drum screen.

In Fig. 4 I show diagrammatically a modification of the housing 342; inwhich it is shaped to form air ducts 63 opening through nozzles 64formed in the housing so that the air currents will act to strip thelint in the manner well understood in this art from the adjacent rollers65, 66 and 61. Valves 68 are provided on each of the pipes 63, supplyingair to their respective nozzles 64, so that their air velocity can becontrolled as well as its volumetric flow through these nozzles.

This permits the use of positive air pressure through the pipe 63 alone,or negative pressure within the screen drum alone, or the combinedeffect of positive and negative pressures on opposite sides of thescreen drum.

With an apparatus as shown in Fig. 4, the lint can be initiallydeposited by a mechanical agency alone against the screen drum aheadofthe roll 65, or. such agencies can work in conjunction with negative.pressure within the screen drum.

In Fig. I show apneumatic means for stripping and redepositing the lintbat on the drum in lieuof the mechanical agencies illustrated in thepreceding views. As shown in Fig. 5 only two retreatments of the lintbat are contemplated. The

lintdeposited on the screen lilopposite the inlet port l8 will passthrough a relatively restricted neck it into the housing 3% whichisprovided withsubstantially semi-circular passages I I and I2 definedbetween the outer curved wall of the housing and an inner curved baffle13'. This bafil'e for the passage ll sets closely over the screensurface with its lower edge lying in line with the upper edge of an airjet 15 leading from a pipe '15 within one of the bafiled chambers in thedrum. This jetof air will strike and blow the lint batoif the drumsurface, causing it to travel through the arcuate passage 7! and to beforcibly. redeposited upon the cleaned surface of the screen over thesuction passage 11 which leads tangentially inwardly into the suctionchamber 25. Within the baffle defining the upper wall of the passagellis a second pipe 78 delivering an air. jet by nozzle lil againstthedrum screen adjacent to the baffie l3'for the passage 12, and this airjet will again lift the bat, which has collected on the drum between thebaffles 13, and

again redeposit it on the screen over the suction intake to the passage89 leading tangentially into the suction chamber 23.

With this pneumatic apparatus the bat is first forcibly deposited on thescreen, is then blown off by jet '15 while the screen traverses thepassage H; is forcibly redeposited on the screen opposite the suctionpassage fl, is again blown off by the nozzle 19 and forcibly redepositedon the clean surface of the screen while making its traverse over thesuction passage 86 to the bat roller 32 which condenses the bat in formfor discharge.

It will of course be understood that while I have shown my apparatusdesigned to produce as many as three re-treatments of the lint batinitially deposited on a condenser drum, one or more of such treatmentsmay be used as conditions require.

While I have shown my invention in several forms, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof var ous other changes and modifications, without departing from thespirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitationsshall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as arespecifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An improvement in the art of cleaning and collecting fibrousmaterial, which consists in alternately forcibly depositing the fibrousmaterial and accompanying foreign matter upon a single moving cleanforaminous collecting surface, stripping it therefrom and forciblyredepositing it thereon a plurality of times to clean the fiber beforedischarging it.

2. The herein described process for cleaning fibrous material whilecollecting it on a moving pervious surface, which consists in repeatedlypropelling the fibrous material against a clean portion of said'surface,and repeatedly stripping itcleanly from said surface before finallyremoving'it.

3. The herein described process for cleaning andcondensing air-bornelint'containing foreign matter, which consists in initially. projectingthe lint and foreign matter by means of a high velocity air currentagainst a restricted area on a moving collecting surfacetopass theforeignmatter therethrough, stripping said surface of the collectedvlint, againforcibly projecting the stripped lint against a cleaned areaof said collecting surface in the presence of an air currenttherethrough withdrawing the foreign matter passing through thecollecting surface, and finally discharging the cleaned condensed lintin bat form.

4. The herein described process for cleaning fibers while collectingthem into bat form, which consists in forcibly depositing the fibers ona moving pervious collecting surface to pass foreign matter mixedtherewith through the collecting surface, and stripping and redepositingthe fibers on the same collecting surface in the presencev of an aircurrent traversing said collecting surface to pass through the collectorany remaining foreign matter.

5. In combination, a pervious lint collector, means to deliver lint andaccompanying foreign matter forcibly against said collector to pass theforeign matter therethrough; andmeans spaced about the collector toremove the lint from, and forcibly redeposit it upon said collectorthereby to subject the lint to a plurality of cleaning operations.

6. In combination, a pervious lint collector, means to deliver lint andaccompanying foreign matter forcibly against said collector to pass theforeign matter therethrough, means to clean the lint by causing itsremoval from, and its forcible redeposit upon, said collector, means towithdraw the foreign matter passing through the collector, and means tomove the collector so as to present a clean collecting surface toreceive several deposits of lint thereon.

7. In combination, a pervious lint collector, means to deliver lint andaccompanying foreign matter forcibly-against said collector to pass theforeign matter therethrough, and mechanical means spaced about thecollector to clean the lint by removing it from, and forciblyredepositing it upon, said collector.

8; In combination, a pervious lint collector, means to deliver lint andaccompanying foreign matter forcibly againstsaid collector to pass theforeign matter therethrough, and pneumatic means to further clean thelint by removing it from, and forcibly redepositing it upon, saidcollector.

9. In combination, a pervious" lint collector, means to deliver lint andaccompanying foreign matter forcibly against said collector to pass theforeign matter therethrough, and combined mechanical and pneumatic meansto clean the lint by removing: it and any remaining foreign matter from,and forcibly redepositing them upon said collector.

10. In combination, a delivery duct for a lint bearing air current, amoving pervious lint collector which traverses said air current andcollects the lint initially thereon, a sequence of agencies common to'said collector acting successively on the lint to strip it from, andforcibly to carry. off the dirt and foreign matter passingr 2,269,085 5through the collector, and means to discharge cessively on thelint tostrip it from, open it up,

the cleaned lint from the collector. and forcibly redeposit it on saidcollector to pass 11. In combination, a delivery duct for a lint foreignmatter mixed therewith through the bearing air current, a movingpervious lint 001- collector, means to carry off the dirt and foreignlector which traverses said air current and 001- r matter passingthrough the collector, and means lects the lint initially thereon, asequence of to discharge the cleaned lint from the collector.

agencies common to said collector acting suc- I GEORGE C. MORGAN.

